Born To Kill
by Mirage1234
Summary: They say that the Dead Zone used to a beautiful place. Apparently, the lake had been filled with crystal clear water, and the birds had sung their sweet songs at every dawn. Well, that place no longer exists. Neither do the Clans. No longer is there a warrior code, or even "warriors". We are simply flesh. Flesh used to fight a never ending war. Soldiers that were born to kill...


**Author's Note: Experimental idea. Basically, the area around the lake no longer exists as Clan territory. Long ago, a conflict between ThunderClan and ShadowClan amounted to such a war that the other Clan's joined in, and now, everything is just destroyed. But, the war hasn't stopped. The armies of Shadow and Lightning are still fighting mercilessly.**

**There's an extended summary, for you. Now here's the prologue.**

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><p><strong>Born to Kill:<strong>

**Prologue**

_The area around the lake was a wasteland._

_Everything had long ago stopped growing. The birds no longer sang their beautiful songs, and the prey had left to find a better place to forage. The trees had rotted and died, and the lake was now a muddy brown colour, filled with pollution and dirt. Even the sun's light seemed to have been smothered by the darkness of the war that had ravaged everything in sight. Now, the only weather you ever saw was rain or snow, and the colour of the sky was permanently dull grey._

_It was sunset, though you wouldn't have known it. The only evidence you could've found of the this fact was the encroaching darkness of the night. If the war was so intense, you may wonder why there was no fighting: it was the time of the Sheathing Claw._

_And the period of the Sheathing Claw was coming to an end. Soon, the borders between the Armies of both Shadow and Lightning would engage in their ferocious battle for dominance once more._

_What had once been the territory of RiverClan was no longer the attractive place where it once was, with small brooks and streams leading into the lake. It had been transformed into a deadly marshland, and it had a reputation for being one of the bloodiest places in the history of the Clans. It was almost impossible to win a fight there, because of how little space you had to move, and how easily it was to get trapped in mud and water. Walking around it, you often found the remnants of cats bodies: bones and claws that had simply rotted away in the dirt._

_It was in this marsh, where a she-cat lay on the ground, panting heavily. Her sides were wracked with exhaustion and pain, and her swollen belly was shaking uncontrollably. She wailed, before rolling onto her side. Blood covered the ground around her, as well as her tawny coloured fur- the she-cat was giving birth to kits._

_It was obvious she had been walking a long way through the marsh, because of how exhausted she seemed. Dirt was covering her pelt. Her mustard yellow eyes were dull and tired. Suddenly, she let out another horrific yowl of agony, before she curled up into a ball. _

_She wanted her mate._

_She wanted her mate!_

_It was a miracle that she managed to get through a few hours of her long labour. She didn't know how many kits she gave birth to- every second just seemed the same. It was just at dawn, when light was just beginning to illuminate the Dead Zone, that she even opened her eyes, and glanced down at her chest. She had been only vaguely aware of the sound of a kit suckling at her breast. Did that mean one was still alive?_

_Indeed, one kit was still alive. But he was surrounded by… by… stillborns. The queen couldn't bare to look at the corpses of her stillborn kits, so instead, she focused upon the one that's weak struggles now captivated her attention. Weakly, she tried to make it more comfortable, but the only thing she succeeded in doing was making the kit move, which both made her wince with agony, but also make the kit mewl pathetically in distress._

_After a long time of the female simply staring at her offspring: both surprised and glad beyond relief that at least one had survived, she laid her head down upon the muddy ground and let out one last sigh._

_The she-cat was dead._

_The kit sensed this almost immediately. It noticed the fact that his mother was no longer moving; he also noticed how she had closed her eyes, and was no longer looking at him. But the kit didn't understand. Instead, it simply proceeded to carry on drinking the remnants of her milk, without knowing the consequence that had just taken place._

_At that moment, StarClan made a decision. No one really- _truly-_ believed in StarClan any longer, but they never gave up upon the cats of the lake, no matter how much evil they had done in the past. They could have just left the kit to die, at the chest of his mother, who's spirit had already gone to walk their endless hunting grounds. But this did not happen. Fate stood in the way._

_There was a loud rustle, and the sound of mud squelching. The kit's ears pricked, though it didn't really contemplate what the noise meant. It's eyes were firmly shut, so it couldn't see. Then came the sound of a muzzle sniffing, probing the air for scents._

_Whatever was intruding upon the scene of the dead mother and it's helpless infant, had detected the smell of death. It had been following the foreboding scent for awhile. The rustles grew louder, until from out of the swamp, a small and wiry tom stepped out._

_He gasped when he saw the bloody picture in front of him. At first, he didn't register the kit: all he saw was the corpses of the stillborns and of the she-cat. He took a cautious step forward, trying to keep out of the pool of blood surrounding the bodies, with his keen eyes darting around. He shook his head. The tom seemed to be at loss. _

_He was just about to turn around and go, when he finally heard the weak meows of the surviving kit. Instantly, the tom spun round and stared with diluted eyes at the kit, shocked that any living creature could've survived the terrible birth. The kit's had removed his mouth from his mother's nipple, no longing suckling, and was simply rolling around on the floor, crying out._

_For a few long seconds, the wiry tom didn't move. His face behold a conflicted expression, as he decided what path of action he was going to take. Finally, his eyes softened a little, and he bent forward and picked the small kit up by the scruff. The action was accompanied by an even louder shriek._

_And with that, he padded away, leaving the corpse of the mother behind him..._

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><p><strong>So yep. There's the prologue, hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for chapter one, which should be uploaded soon.<strong>


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